Golden Grahams Class Action Says Cereal Boxes Contain Too Much Empty Space

A class action lawsuit claims that Golden Grahams and Honey Nut Cheerios cereal boxes contain too much empty space.

Plaintiffs Ian Gabriel and Sharon Manier say they purchased the cereals believing that the size of the box gave a fair representation of the amount of product in the box.

However, they say that after they opened the boxes, there was far less cereal than they expected.

The customers claim that this was done intentionally and constitutes a misrepresentation on the part of General Mills.

Gabriel and Manier say they were financially injured because had they known that the boxes contained far less cereal than implied, they would not have purchased the product or would not have paid as much for it as they did.

The customers say that Golden Grahams and Honey Nut Cheerios are sold in non-transparent cardboard boxes that have too much empty space. According to the customers, this empty space serves no functional purpose.

Allegedly, General Mills includes this space in order to trick customers into believing that the boxes contain more cereal than they really do.

The Cheerios packaging class action lawsuit supports the claim that the empty space serves no purpose other than to mislead consumers by saying that General Mills currently sells other sizes of the two cereals in question that contain far less empty space, and sold earlier versions of the cereal that also contained less empty space.

Allegedly, the inclusion of this excess empty space is a violation of the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, as well as California state law. The laws allegedly prohibit non-functional slack-fill, or empty space in packaging.

The General Mills cereal boxes class action lawsuit says that non-functional slack-fill is determined as space that does not help protect the product, is not a feature of the product, and is not necessary in the manufacturing of the product. The customers claim that the empty space in the cereal boxes does not meet one of these needs.

The customers say that General Mills’ under-filling of cereal boxes amounts to deception and misleading advertising.

Allegedly, General Mills gained significant profits from under-filling the boxes of Golden Grahams and Honey Nut Cheerios at the expense of their customers.

The General Mills cereal class action lawsuit says that many customers were similarly deceived by the cereal packaging and were similarly financially injured.

The Golden Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios class action lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of Manier, Gabriel, and all similarly affected customers.

Have you purchased a product that you think contained too much slack-fill? Share your experience with us in the comments below.

The customers are represented by C.K. Lee of Lee Litigation Group PLLC and Ted K. Lippincott of Levine & Blit LLP.

The Golden Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios Class Action Lawsuit is Ian Gabriel, et al. v. General Mills Inc., et al., Case No. 2:19-cv-08339, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.

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